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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22408648">Daminette ABC Challenge</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/kceedraws/pseuds/kceedraws'>kceedraws</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Batman - All Media Types, Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>ABC Challenge, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - Childhood Friends, Angst with a Happy Ending, Childhood Friends, Daminette, Domestic Fluff, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, MariBat, Tooth-Rotting Fluff</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-01-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 13:20:13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,534</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22408648</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/kceedraws/pseuds/kceedraws</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>[Daminette] as seen through 26 snapshots</p>
<p>For ozmav's Maribat AU ~</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>350</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Daminette ABC Challenge</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozmav/gifts">ozmav</a>.</li>



    </ul></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <b>
    <em>[A - Angel]</em>
  </b>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian tested out a lot of different nicknames for Marinette, but none of them felt like The One. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>‘Sweetheart’ felt too corny. ‘Cupcake’ was even worse. ‘Baby’ wasn’t personal enough. ‘Honey only reminded him of Winnie the Pooh, and ‘Pooh Bear’ would ensure eternal teasing from his family. He toyed with ‘M’lady’ for a second, but the thought of it brought images of Chat Noir to his mind and </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>was more than enough to put an end to that option.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But just as he was about to throw in the towel, Marinette emerged from her sewing room dressed in her newest creation: a snowy white couture gown with delicate alabaster silk cascading down her shoulders. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Angel</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he whispered aloud. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That’s the one</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[B - Baking]</em>
  </b>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>From the way that Marinette clenched her jaw and squished her nose after taking a bite of his cake, Damian knew it was a failure. As beads of sweat pooled on her forehead, she forced herself to swallow the burnt, crumbly, and wholly unappetizing (supposed-to-be) vanilla layer cake. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I take it that you didn’t like it very much?” he asked, trying to mask his disappointment.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I...I like that you at least </span>
  <em>
    <span>tried</span>
  </em>
  <span>!” she said frantically. “Next time I’ll give you an easier recipe —  one that doesn’t involve any ovens though.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>What a very “Marinette” thing of her to say,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Damian thought as he kissed her temple and started to gather the dirty dishes scattered around the kitchen. Even if he failed a million times, he knew that his Angel would be there with a million and one ways to cheer him up. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[C - Confidence]</em>
  </b>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Robin felt her presence long before she made an appearance. A slight flicker of movement in the shadows — so subtle that if he didn’t look carefully, he would’ve missed her completely — was the only indication that she was there. She’d never been one for stealth before, especially when they were out on patrol. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>When did that change?</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Robin was just shy of his fourteenth birthday when Master Fu announced that that was the last summer she would train with the Bat family — which was just fine with Robin, if he were being honest. At the time, he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>glad</span>
  </em>
  <span> that the clumsy, brazen girl would be out of their hair for good. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But now at eighteen, with time and space and a slightly-more mature brain to think about the bug-themed heroine (and god forbid, maybe miss her too), Robin fell silent when Ladybug emerged from her hiding place.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She sauntered towards him slowly, her hips swaying just enough to create a cool, confident rhythm. Every so often, the dim streetlights from below would illuminate her new suit; as much as he didn’t want to admit it, the deep maroon and black plated armor looked great on her. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A breath away from him, Ladybug rose on her toes and smiled at his blank expression. “My job’s done in Paris, and I heard you guys could use an extra hand over here. Mind if I join you again?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Robin merely nodded and jerked his head in a “follow-me” motion. It occurred to him a few minutes later that he didn’t actually say anything to her — he was too distracted by the way her sweet perfume wafted in front of him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[D - Dreamy]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The journal absolutely disgusted him. It was bad enough to see it glaringly decorated in pink hearts and golden glitter stickers, but to read </span>
  <em>
    <span>the contents</span>
  </em>
  <span> inside of it? By far one of the worst things he’d ever seen in his short twelve years of life.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Page after page were various sketches of Richard, with some of them depicting him as a fairytale prince, and others of him standing beside a rainbow unicorn. All of them were lovingly signed at the bottom with “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Mrs. Marinette Grayson”</span>
  </em>
  <span> or “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Marinette Dupain-Cheng Grayson</span>
  </em>
  <span>”. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The worst page, though, was the one entitled “</span>
  <em>
    <span>10 Things I Love About Richard!!!!!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”. It started off with some surface-level things like their shared traits of blue eyes and dark hair, or how kind and patient he’d been during their training sessions. Damian gagged when he reached the last item which simply said “</span>
  <em>
    <span>He’s just so dreamy!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” with flower petals glued around it. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian wasn’t jealous at all. Nope. No siree. Which is why he definitely did </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>bore his eyes at the back of Richard’s head after he returned Marinette’s lost diary later that night. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[E - Electricity]</em>
  </b>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette had come to find out that her boyfriend had an array of different touches, and all of them meant something different. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Absent-mindedly brushing her shoulders were for when Damian was focused on an assignment, but wanted her to know that he was still there. Tracing his thumb over hers while they held hands were silent ways to tell her “I’m nervous” when they were around strangers. And when he ran his fingers along her jawline before pulling in for a kiss? </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Those felt like electric sparks surging across her skin — those were for when he ran out of ways to say “</span>
  <em>
    <span>I love you</span>
  </em>
  <span>”. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>(And those just so happened to be her favorite.)</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[F - Fight]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The silence that fell between them was deafening. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian and Marinette were not unfamiliar with having fights, but this one...this one was different.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette was the first to break eye contact. She sighed as if the weight of disappointment forced air out of her lungs, and deeply pouted. “All of these years we’ve known each other, I’ve always tried to understand your perspective...I just thought that maybe this time, you’d try to understand mine.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian groaned and firmly pinched the bridge of his nose. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fine</span>
  </em>
  <span>. You win. I’ll get pineapple on the pizza - but </span>
  <em>
    <span>only </span>
  </em>
  <span>on half of it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[G - Gentleman]</em>
  </b>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Toying with Damian was starting to grow old. For about a week after her return to Gotham, Marinette had a grand time getting a rise out of the boy (</span>
  <em>
    <span>man?</span>
  </em>
  <span>) who used to make her summer vacations hell. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He deserved it though, didn’t he? Back then, Damian was nothing but a cold, callous know-it-all who loved nothing more than to correct every single one of her mistakes. Every single day during those summers, she dreaded getting out of bed because the sooner she did that, the sooner she’d have to face Damian’s incessant smirk raining down on her parade. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>But maybe — </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe </span>
  </em>
  <span>— she would consider letting up on the teasing. There was something...different in the air whenever they talked now. Perhaps it was in the way that he held doors open for her, pulled her chair out during dinner, gave up his jacket when it was cold, or complimented her when she came down in the mornings for breakfast...in any case, something seemed different about Damian.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>In the meantime while she figured out what that all meant (</span>
  <em>
    <span>and why was he always looking at her now?</span>
  </em>
  <span>) Marinette felt just fine messing with him to no end.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[H - Honey]</em>
  </b>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He felt his composure quickly slipping from him. Damn it all, Damian just couldn’t focus whenever Marinette gave him that look and that tiny pout and that — </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Honey, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span>? For me?” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Ah, there it was. That was the line that always had a 100% success rate in getting him to do whatever she wanted from him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Alright...let’s adopt that puppy then.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[I - Iris]</em>
  </b>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Damian had prided himself for being the most unique in his family. In a sea of older brothers who were all skilled fighters in their own right, Damian had one thing that they didn’t: piercing, sharp green eyes. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Blue eyes were boring. Blue eyes were dull. Blue eyes were </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>run-of-the-mill that he scoffed whenever the topic was brought up in his presence. (Externally, that is. Internally, he had to reassure himself over and over again until it really stuck.)</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Blue eyes were boring. Blue eyes were dull. Blue eyes were run-of-the-mill. Blue eyes were — </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Well...maybe not </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>blue eyes. He could easily think of someone whose bluebell eyes were the exception.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[J - Juggle]</em>
  </b>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>To say that the morning was a juggling act would be an understatement. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>True, most of their mornings nowadays were hectic, but with the added stress of organizing documents for important work meetings, quelling an argument between their eldest son and daughter, and finding a clean rag to clean their youngest son’s spit-up, Damian and Marinette were panting with exhaustion by the time they finally settled into the car. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>After handing Louis off to Bruce at the Manor, they tore through the side streets to drop off Angelica and Tommy to their elementary school. Marinette glanced at her watch: 7:30 a.m. Perfect, Damian would have just enough time to drop her off at her studio before he needed to — </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Uhhh, Papa? Maman?!” Tommy knocked on her window and while Angelica frantically waved at them. “I think you guys are forgetting something!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Forgetting...Oh, you’re right!” Marinette opened the door, quickly pecked them on the cheek twice, and waved back. “Can’t leave without a kiss goodbye. Have a good day at school you two!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Twenty minutes later and with a room full of confused employees, Damian and Marinette finally realized what they really meant: they switched their briefcases with their children’s backpacks. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[K - Karma]</em>
  </b>
  
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Damian heaved over his wife’s unmoving body. It was all his fault, wasn’t it? Was this some sort of sick trick from the universe to make him pay for all of his crimes? </span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>Her clothes were soaked to the touch with a deep, coppery red, and oh god why was no one else here to help him. He failed her, he failed her, he failed her.</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>
    <em>DAMIAN</em>
  </b>
  <span>.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He awoke with a shout and a violent twist that knocked him off of his bed. Sweat dripped down the back of his neck. His heart raced, and his eyes darted across the room and...and Marinette was there. Marinette, who was now wrapping her arms around his shoulders and resting her head under his chin. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[L - Label]</em>
  </b>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>At three in the morning, Marinette poked Damian’s side until he could wipe the bleariness from his eyes. He swallowed a yawn and said, “Wha...wha’s wrong, Angel?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She hummed into his neck for a moment before asking, “I...I just wanted to know something. You like me, right?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian stiffened. “Marinette, sweetheart...</span>
  <em>
    <span>we’re married</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well yes, but like as friends or — “</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>He groaned and flopped to the other side of the bed. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[M - Moon]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette toyed with the pleats of her skirt as she asked him, “Are you serious?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian’s solemn nod told her everything, but he went on to reply. “I’ve never been more serious about anything in my life.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Tears leaked from her eyes, and she launched herself into his awaiting arms. The folds of her silvery skirt shone beneath the moonlight, its reflection casting a faint glow on the wrought iron rails. Between her gasps, Marinette gave him her final answer. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Yes. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I’ll marry you.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[N - Nuance]</em>
  </b>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette gaped at him while he slipped the silver ring on his middle finger. She stammered, “B-but I thought you said that you didn’t want to be the new Black Cat!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian looked at her and shrugged. “I only said that I didn’t want to be ‘</span>
  <em>
    <span>Chat Noir</span>
  </em>
  <span>’. Plagg, claws out!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette shut her eyes from the bright green light that enveloped his body. When she opened them, the sight of his sleek black armor and deep, mossy cape made her gasp. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian smirked at her from beneath his hood and added, “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Nightshade</span>
  </em>
  <span>, on the other hand, is at your service, m’lady.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[O - Offer]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I just can’t believe that you turned him down, girl!”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette smothered her sigh in her jacket. Between the barrage of concerned texts from classmates, Alya spent the last hour lecturing her for her “mistake”. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <em>
    <span>“I don’t get it, Marinette. Adrien. Adrien freaking Agreste!!! He finally asked you out and you just </span>
  </em>
  <b>
    <em>turned him down</em>
  </b>
  <em>
    <span>?! What do you even have to say for yourself?!”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette held her old diary in her lap. Her fingers brushed across a paragraph where she ranted about a time when Damian was particularly callous during their training session, back when her biggest problems were about a boy with raven black hair and sharp green eyes.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“It didn’t feel right,” she finally replied. “I just...don’t have any interest in Adrien anymore.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[P - Petty]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“</span>
  <b>
    <em>You</em>
  </b>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian looked up from his desk to see his heavily-pregnant-and-incredibly-beautiful-but-scarily-angry wife glaring down at him. He cocked his head to the side and innocently asked, “Is something the matter, my love?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette scoffed and shook her head. “Don’t try to butter me up, Damian! Now tell me the truth right now or so help me you’ll be sleeping on the couch: did you vandalize all of those billboards with Adrien’s face on them?!”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Angel, let’s be reasonable here,” Damian replied while he nudged the paint can further beneath his desk. “When would I have the time to do such a thing?” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[Q - Quiet]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>There were certain nights that really concerned him. These were nights where his Angel would come home from crime-fighting and quietly sat on their couch, not saying anything but the occasional “</span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m just tired</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Tonight must have been one of those nights because she gradually trudged towards the sofa, her shoulders slumped forward to ease the ache that settled in her bones.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian sighed. It was never easy to see Marinette like this, but he knew better than to barrel her with questions about what happened. Instead, he gently curled around her and stroked her matted, sweat-dampened hair. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“I got you, Angel,” he murmured. “I’m right here.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[R - Reception]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As soon as Marinette stepped foot into the reception hall, Lila immediately snatched her arm as if they were old friends and dragged her towards the center of the room. Marinette fought the urge to yank her arm away, all too aware that her former classmates were staring at her with a mixture of fondness and suspicion (which was no doubt due to Lila’s unrepentant hold on them after Marinette left).</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“— so sweet of you to show up!” Lila’s cooing and tighter grip brought Marinette back to the present. “After all, we haven’t heard from you in years and, well...we didn’t know if you’d have the means to travel all the way back.“</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Thank you for your concern, Lila,” Marinette gently stated. She smiled as she heard the sound of footsteps behind her and said, “As it turned out, I had reliable transportation and some great company to go with it.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Our private jet </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>rather comfortable, but we’ll need to give it some upgrades soon.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A collective gasp tore through the group as a new voice entered the conversation. Damian sidled up next to Marinette and, with his free hand, firmly pried her away from Lila’s grasp; his other hand was far too preoccupied holding a baby girl and a shy three year-old boy. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette scooped up their son and motioned towards the crowd with a nod. “I’d like to finally introduce you all to my family.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[S - Spicy]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Marinette tugged her hair out of its loose bun and climbed into the boxing ring. His Angel’s smooth movements never failed to impress him, especially with how easily she ducked and dodged his jabs, and he was sure that this round no doubt be the same. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Try to keep up with me this time, alright Dove?” she taunted, winking at him from beneath her helmet. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Oh I intend to, Angel.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[T - Trust]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>As the monster’s stomps grew heavier, Ladybug felt her grip on the building’s ledge weaken. Robin, who held onto her arm for dear life, coughed and retched through the smoke. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Her plan was risky, but it was the only one she could come up with.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>A feeble squeeze on her forearm brought her gaze straight into Damian’s eyes. His mouth set in a firm line, he said, “Do what you need to do. I trust you, Angel.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That was all the confirmation she needed. With a silent prayer and hopes that her plan would work, Ladybug heaved in one final breath and let go of the ledge. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[U - Uncle]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Although it seemed like most of their dates were centered around babysitting Mar’i nowadays, the couple never complained when she was dropped at their doorstep. Sure, Damian’s half-Tameranean niece had the energy of ten kindergarteners combined, but even they couldn’t deny the effect that her huge green eyes had on them. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>That particular day’s schedule was jam-packed with trips to the park, the movie theater, the newest arcade in Gotham, and the nearby ice cream parlor just before it closed up shop for the day. Once her sugar-high wore off, Mar’i slumped her head against Marinette’s shoulders while Damian fished for the car keys. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>The combination of Marinette’s soothing voice and soft, sweet perfume made Mar’i smile and sleepily mutter, “Uncle Dami, I can’t wait for her to be my aunt one day…”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>She promptly knocked out into a deep sleep, completely failing to see the glowing red blushes on their cheeks. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[V - Vanilla]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>When it came to helping their kids with a problem, the three of them had different ways of wanting to be helped. For Tommy, he preferred having long, thoughtful heart-to-heart conversations with either or both of his parents present. For Louis, he recovered best with tight hugs and unbroken silence. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>And for Angelica? Ice cream was the only way to get through to her. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Case in point: the current problem at hand. Earlier that night as their family waited hours in the foyer for the arrival of her homecoming date, Angelica had bravely kept her face stoic in front of everyone when they slowly realized that he wasn’t coming. Rather than stumble over her words to make a cover story, Angelica turned on her heel and marched straight towards the kitchen. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>It was only after Damian followed and presented her a quart of vanilla ice cream that she finally let the tears fall. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Although it broke him to see his daughter look so fragile, he knew what a resilient little bird she was. All he could do for now was wipe her tears away and open another carton of ice cream. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[W - Wanted]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Her mirthful laughter reached all the way to the parlor where he was studying. Feeling the aching need to take a break from his research paper, Damian bounded up the stairs to see that Marinette was sitting flat on her bottom in the middle of the hallway, clutching her side as tears pooled in her eyes. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“C-can you believe this, Dami?” she said through staggered breaths. “K-kagami sent this to me. Apparently, you’re France’s It Boy this season.” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian took the magazine and had to squint at the bright red block letter title: </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Damian Wayne - Society’s Most Wanted Bachelor”</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>To his horror, nearly every page of that magazine had his face plastered on it, with one of the pages extending into a trifold of cutouts and stickers.</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Looks like I have some stiff competition across the pond,” Marinette mused, her wrist faintly resting on her forehead. “Oh, however am I going to fend off all those ladies vying for your hand?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Getting the magazine chucked at her face afterwards was totally worth it. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[X - X-ray]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“...I’m just saying, this wouldn’t have happened if you didn’t feel the need to upstage your brothers all the time.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“Well, how was I supposed to know that playing video games would have been so violent?!” </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Damian’s surly expression was balanced only by the most adorable cast that was wrapped around his thumb. The doctor even had a good sense of humor and placed a smiley-face sticker where the fingernail would have been. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[Y - Yes]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>The officiant nodded at Marinette’s response and turned to Damian. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>“And do you take this woman to be your lawfully-wedded wife? To have and to hold, from this day forth, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>There wasn’t a dry eye in the venue when Damian gave the officiant a strong, resounding “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <b>
    <em>[Z - Zoo]</em>
  </b>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once the last of their guests left, the two of them sent their kids to bed while they surveyed the damage. Despite it being his birthday, Tommy insisted on helping his parents clean until they all but forced him upstairs. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>Hmph. Well, they stopped him from cleaning, but they couldn’t stop him from supervising their progress! After making sure that his siblings were asleep, Tommy tiptoed back downstairs to see how far along his parents were in the clean-up process. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>When he peeked inside the kitchen, he was shocked at the scene before him. </span>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
  <span>His parents were slow dancing. Soft music hummed from their speakers as Damian and Marinette swayed to the beat, both of them narrowly dodging the jungle of garbage bags in their path. For all that his maman and baba showed their affection in front of him, nothing compared with the serenity in this moment. </span>
</p>
<p><br/>
<span>Not wanting to ruin the scene, Tommy slipped back to his room and let his parents have their privacy. </span>
  <span>With how crazy their lives were, he knew that they deserved it.</span>
</p><hr/>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So it turns out that taking an accelerated language course and sending out school/job applications causes one to delay posting their fics. Who knew? In any case, please accept this 3,500+ word post as thanks for your patience ~</p></blockquote></div></div>
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